B&D Pavement Maintenance started out as a one man operation in 1976, this was actually
prompted by my father "requesting" that the driveway had to be sealed. Chores at home
were completed without pay or discussion. After completing this task neatly, I soon had
several neighbors asking me if I would like to do their driveways.
I had been cutting lawns and watering the greens in the evenings at the old Crystal Lake
Country Club so the draw to make money during the day was very appealing to a 14 year
old. As summer wound down I had found a nice way to make some money and as I
transferred into junior high school I had a nice savings account.
During junior high school I met my future partner, as I explained how I made some money
over the past summer. We decided to "go big". He would soon be turning 16, I was now 15
so every driveway became our target. We had a lot of fun, learned about business, image
and marketing and made some money. This relationship grew to include my brother, his
friend, my partner, and I. The relationship lasted through high school and part of college.
THEN CAME BIG CHANGES!!!
Around 1985 a strange and powerful force took over my life, I was engaged, quick and
serious changes were coming, decisions had to be made. I knew I couldn't make it as a
driveway sealer so I tried various other "real" jobs while attending UMSL. I kept receiving
calls from my old customers and had people referring work to me. I always believed in doing
neat work and communicating with the customer yet I had no idea how this would snowball.
In 1986 I was married. About a year later my wife and I decied that I should do what really
made me happy no matter what the risks. I went back into residential seal coating, enlisted
the help of my brother and resurrected the name B&D Pavement Maintenance.
My brother, Bob, and I soon realized we couldn't make it just sealing driveways, so we
started to offer asphalt patching and edged our way into the commercial market. We both
had to work in the evening and all winter as waiters to skate by. My wife, Desiree, had been
working as a general manager for McDonald's Corporation for several years and as things
changed within that environment she decided it was time for a change.
One thing we all had in common was hard work and determination. Desiree and I decided to
sell her new car and cash in all of her stocks and put ourselves and her money into the
business. Hard times were definitely ahead but we rose to it and stayed on course. Now all
three of us were working all day on B&D and at night in restaurants.
I had always been searching for something else to compliment the seal coating business,
this type of work is seasonal and only brought in income between May and October. I had
been reading and learning about an emerging field, high specification crack and joint sealing.
This type of work would add length to what had been a 6 month season.
After some discussion we all decided that we must get into this field. We pursued this with
vigor and started to talk to our residential customers that were pleased with our work. Soon
we had the names of private lanes and various trustees; we applied our knowledge and
passion to each job and did excellent work.
By 1992 we were skilled in this field and had developed a flare for efficiency, neatness and
using high quality materials. We also caught the attention of St. Louis County Highway
Department as they inquired about and observed our crew working on private streets. They
developed a program based on what they saw and learned about this new method of
maintenance.
In the fall of 1992 the first "pilot" public letting for crack sealing was out for bid. We won the
contract for arterial roads and although there is now plenty of competition, even from out of
state, there is not a more home town or conscientious contractor for joint and crack sealing
than B&D Pavement Maintenance.
To date we are involved in many aspects of pavement maintenance ranging from hot
rubberized joint and crack sealing to infrared asphalt patching, commercial sealcoating using
environmentally responsible material, re-striping parking lots and developing long term
maintenance programs for private streets, parking lots, commerical properties, and various
cities public works departments.
Glenn, Desiree, and Bob Dutton are still here, and most days we get along pretty well! We
are members of both the Washington and Kirkwood chambers as well as participants in
many private and charitable organizations. We pride ourselves on relationship building; this
comes from fair and honest business practice, that's B&D Pavement Maintenance.